Grim view on housing costs

Daniella Miletic

AUSTRALIANS are increasingly experiencing mortgage and rental stress and more people are waiting for public housing, research shows.

A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, to be released on Wednesday, paints a grim picture of Australian low-income earners' ability to cope with housing costs. It shows the number of households experiencing moderate mortgage stress, defined as when more than 30 per cent of gross household income is put towards housing costs, jumped from 900,000 in 1995 to more than 1.4 million in 2010. Those experiencing severe housing stress, where more than 50 per cent of a household's income is devoted to mortgage or rent rose from 300,000 to 460,000 - or 4.6 to 5.5 per cent - in the same time.

A report to be released on Wednesday paints a grim picture of Australian low-income earners' ability to cope with housing costs. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

Geoff Neideck, the institute's head of housing and homelessness, said the report showed more than 500,000 of the households experiencing housing stress were low-income earners.

''It's important to differentiate between those households on low incomes, because that would have a considerable impact on people's lifestyles and availability of income for other things … including necessities,'' he said.

Dr Cassandra Goldie, head of the Australian Council of Social Service, said the figures reflected what welfare services were also reporting. ''The issue all the sector has identified as the major cause of poverty in Australia is the lack of affordable housing,'' she said. ''It is well understood that we have a chronic lack of supply of low-cost and affordable housing for people on low and modest incomes, and we have predicted that this problem will continue to increase if we don't try … to increase the supply of affordable housing.''

The report found a rising demand for public housing. There were more than 202,368 applicants waiting for public housing accommodation in June last year compared to a waiting list of 177,652 in June 2008. It identified a rise in the demand for rent assistance in the year to June 2011, with more than 1.1 million households receiving help to pay their rent.

Mr Neideck said young people were staying at home longer, with research showing about 3 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds stay on in the family home.

The report also revealed the number of Australians who owned their own home outright had dropped from 42 per cent to 33 per cent from 1994-95 to 2009-10, while those paying off a mortgage rose from 30 per cent to 36 per cent.